MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Former West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez, who is now the head coach at Jacksonville State, has led the Gamecocks to an 18-6 record in 2 seasons with the program. Now, Rodriguez has landed the son of one of his former players at West Virginia.
Andre Devine, a senior running back from Fort Myers, Florida, is the son of Mountaineers’ standout Noel Devine, and commited to play for Rodriguez at Jacksonville State. Devine, who has offers from UMASS, Marshall and USF, has 145 carries for 908 yards (6.3 yards per carry) and 6 touchdowns in three seasons at North Fort Myers.
His father, Noel, was one of the greatest players ever at West Virginia University, where he rushed for 4,315 yards and 92 TDs between 2007-2010. Noel Devine expressed his displeasure with West Virginia coaches Neal Brown and Chad Scott, who he said he was disappointed in for not following through on their offer to his son.
Devine said the following: “My experience as a WVU player and as a person that loves Mountaineer fans is that a man’s word is a man’s word. Especially with my coaches. Neal Brown and Chad Scott verbally promised my son a scholarship and now they are backing out. So I guess this coaching staff can’t be taken at their word. WVU needs to go back to its winning roots and get some of us to come back and coach and turn this program around to its old glory.”
Earlier today, Devine posted a picture of his son, Andre, Rich Rodriguez and himself with the following caption: “My college head coach Rich Rod recruiting my son at Jacksonville State. Life comes full circle.”
It’s official‼️ proud to be a gamecock🐔@RealCoachRod @CoachRod_McD @noel_devine7 @NFMHS_Football pic.twitter.com/dDeu6bIXlD
— Andre Devine (@239Dre) February 8, 2024
